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Jochen Legewie

Toyota successfully defended its status as the world’s largest automaker in the first half of 2014. However, Volkswagen has gotten very close and is widely expected to overtake Toyota either by the end of the year or in 2015 at latest. As we all ...

Last month, the chief executive officer of one of the country’s largest manufacturers spoke in a closed-door meeting to a group of Japanese executives on his company’s global strategy. Remarkably, he spend 20 percent of his time praising German companies, from traditional heavyweights such ...

While critics of “Abenomics” begrudgingly agree Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policy package has been a success so far, they are equally quick to highlight its looming headwinds. They concede that the first two “arrows” of Abe’s economic program, monetary easing and fiscal stimulus, have ...

Japan stormed back in 2013. Even the staunchest critics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have had to admit that his administration managed to achieve roaring success in its first year. This success owes much to a shift of perception based on an excellently devised ...

On Nov. 30, Takeda Pharmaceutical Company shocked Japan Inc. by announcing that it plans to appoint Frenchman Christophe Weber as its next president by June 2014. Until then, Japanese companies with foreigners in the top spot had fallen into two categories: those that promote ...

For years and decades, foreign observers have cried foul over various barriers — both existing and perceived — to the Japanese economy. Their main target is usually the keiretsu, the closely knit business networks automakers exclusively maintain with groups of 200 to 300 suppliers. ...

Earlier this year, NHK aired the three-part TV program “Made in Japan,” which dramatized an electronics company’s struggle to survive tough economic times. While fictional, the story detailed the harsh reality Japan Inc. faces from Chinese competition. But was the drama in fact a ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is back and so, it appears, is Japan. The yen is down, the Nikkei up, and approval ratings and expectations for the new government are sky high. “Abenomics” is the new buzzword in and outside of Japan as unprecedented optimism ...

Since mid-November, the yen has weakened substantially against the dollar, the euro and other currencies. The rapid decline was fueled by aggressive policy announcements by Shinzo Abe, before and after he became the prime minister in December, calling for more fiscal stimulus and for ...